Why Did Compaq & DEC Fail?
Digital's Founder: 'No Reason Anyone Would Want a Computer at Home'
📜 What Happened
Ken Olsen built DEC into the world's #2 computer company — the minicomputer king. In 1977 he declared there was 'no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.' DEC dismissed PCs as toys for a decade, launched three incompatible half-hearted PCs at once in 1983 (all flopped), and kept perfecting minicomputers as the world moved to desktops. The proud engineering giant sold itself to PC-maker Compaq in 1998 — bought by the very category it had laughed at.
☠️ The Fatal Mistake
Graded the disruptive toy by the standards of the serious machine — and let identity ('we make real computers') veto the market's verdict.
🧠 The Lesson (Free for You)
The toy that hooks amateurs today eats the professional market tomorrow. When you catch yourself saying 'that's not a real X' — that's the disruption announcing itself.
📕 The Antidote Book
Christensen's Harvard research began with a paradox: why do well-run market leaders — companies that listen to customers, invest in R&D, and chase profits rationally — get destroyed by scrappy newcomers with WORSE…
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